Modern inventory systems, such as those in mail order warehouses, supply chain distribution centers, airport luggage systems, and custom-order manufacturing facilities, face significant challenges in responding to requests for inventory items. As inventory systems grow, the challenges of simultaneously completing a large number of packing, storing, and other inventory-related tasks become non-trivial. In inventory systems tasked with responding to large numbers of diverse inventory requests, inefficient utilization of system resources, including space, equipment, and manpower, can result in lower throughput, unacceptably long response times, an ever-increasing backlog of unfinished tasks, and, in general, poor system performance. Additionally, as modern inventory systems continue to increase in size and complexity, the likelihood that some inventory items will become lost within the inventory systems increases. These items may be lost as they are transferred into the inventory systems, as they move throughout the inventory systems, or as they move out of the inventory systems. Lost inventory items may impact operating budgets associated with these inventory systems and may also affect the efficiency of these systems.